Come and help maintain our precious woodlands
It’s fun, it’s active, it’s sociable, it’s time spent together in nature
doing good work
Findhorn Hinterland Group
Work Party ~ everybody invited no experience needed
Saturday, 27th August, from 10:00am – 12pm
Meeting Place: at the work shed behind the Caddy’s House in Bag End,
to be approached from the forest behind Pineridge
(in case of doubt, get one of these fabulous leaflets from the General Office or the
Visitors Centre, or simply ask)
Foundation Management Agreement ready to be signed: There has been a verbal agreement ever since the Findhorn Foundation bought land from Duneland Ltd in 2014 that there would be a similar management agreement set up with the new Findhorn Hinterland Trust as there had been with the community group the Findhorn Hinterland Group and Duneland Ltd. It has taken over a year now to agree to wording but we are now ready to sign this important document. It sets out that the FHT has a mandate to manage the land for conservation through an agreed management plan over fifteen year time periods. There still needs a separate agreement to be drawn up to give even more security for the green burial land but this is a significant step forward.
Staffing Secured: Forester Kajedo Wanderer has been generously seconded by the Findhorn Foundation to work on Findhorn Hinterland land for the past year. This has allowed many of the on-going projects to be managed and helped along in so many ways such as planting and tending trees, using the brush-cutter and topper to clear paths and firebreaks, leading and organising tours of the land, carrying on the momentum of clearing valuable lichen beds of invasive plants, caring for the woodland shelter, edible woodland garden and ponds, organising the work of volunteers and a hundred other things that are reflected in the well-kept nature of the land at the present time.
It was clear that the Foundation was not able/willing to fund this secondment beyond this year and although the FHT would have very much liked to employ a land manager at this time, as a very young organisation it was seen as too risky to take on an employee at the moment by the trustees.
Over the last months however, an arrangement has been agreed by which the FHT pays a monthly amount to extend Kajedo’s involvement for another year and by the end of that time we should have secured grants so could have him working on the land for at least a third year. This is very good news as it means that the purposes of the trust to conserve, educate, build community and provide recreational facilities can go forward in a very positive way.
A big thank you to the Findhorn Foundation for being willing to enter into this agreement and it is great to have you on board Kajedo – your work and presence is very much noticed and appreciated by the many!
Happenings on the Land: This summer the land and Hinterland facilities have been well used. Activities have particularly centred around the woods and woodland shelter area and have ranged from night camps by a Nairn Duke of Edinburgh group, drumming and bread making sessions for adults with disability through the Foundation’s Building Bridges programme, nature activities for groups of 3 to 6 and 7 to 11 year olds as part of the Children and Youth in Community summer activities, a burial of a local gentleman in our green burial ground, a couple of informal birthday celebrations around a fire and even a small wedding reception for Sarah Alexander and Trevor Simpson who were married in the village and wanted a contained outdoor space for this special event.
To make sure that there is no conflict with bookings, activities are appropriate, the area is respected and cared for and that there is something positive put back into the land, we provide written guides for the use of the areas and a booking system. This material can be found under Hinterland Facilities on the website.
Findhorn Dunes Archaeology – Walk and Talk
Sunday 25th September 2-4pm. Free but donations always welcome!
Meet at the Woodland Shelter in Wilkies Wood for an introduction and look at some of the fascinating artefacts found on the land. This will be followed by a walk over the dunes to the beach where Michael will point out sites of interest that you might have passed many times and never understood their significance. You may want to read up a little beforehand on the background of the archaeology of the area which can be found here.
Bring suitable clothing and footwear for the walk and the day’s weather.
If you wish to book a place or have any questions, please contact Kim our membership secretary at: [email protected]
Hinterland Wildlife – A Tracking Adventure
Sunday 11th September 2-5pm £10 per adult
(accompanied under 16s free)
The Hinterland is home to some fantastic wildlife. On this nature adventure we will use tracking and other nature awareness skills to help us really get to know our wild neighbours.
Getting a glimpse into the hidden lives of animals can be an eye-opening experience and one that can deepen our appreciation of our local ecosystem.
Heron and fox tracks
The common lizard
To book please email Dan: [email protected], or call 07952 679640
www.danpuplett.net
Engage with the Land ~ Saturday 30th July 2016 ~ 09:30 – 12:00
Work parties are a great way to learn more about the Findhorn Hinterland while caring for it. By participating in a work party you will deepen your knowledge of local ecology and pickup some land stewardship skill.
Join us every month, 2pm and 4pm on the last Saturday of the month. We meet at the Hinterland Information Point in Wilkies Wood – that’s the blue dot marked “I” on the Hinterland map.
Tools and gloves are provided, if you have your own bring them along.
A visit to the Assynt Foundation
Could a new building for tools, tractor and a small office be part of the next management plan coming from the public consultation report to be released next month? Would it be possible to build it as a green wood working project/workshop, involving members in the learning and experience and have it made largely from trees from Wilkies Wood? If so what might it look like, where might it go, what might be the right size and who might be willing to oversee such a project?
To gain inspiration and try to answer some of these questions, three FHT members visited the green wood craftsman Henry Fosbrooke working on similar buildings in the far north-west of Scotland for the Assynt Foundation.
Kajedo, George and Jonathan from the FHT worked with Henry and helper John under the rain protection of a large open canvas tent wafted by the light smoke from an open wood burner to keep the summer midges down. Their time there was brief but the atmosphere was truly creative, nourishing and inspiring.
It was fascinating to see the craftsmanship and precision involved as Henry worked using round softwood timber and green oak pegs with laser level and shave horse to produce robust, aesthetic and functional buildings; a centre for the arts, a large functional barn and his most recent creation, a shelter and work space for a large pottery kiln. It was clear that it does take skill and effort to transform locally sourced wood in this way but if a number of hands were available, the end results could be exceptional.
Seeing structures gave ideas of dimensions and design that could be used in the Hinterland woods – 9m by 10m with a mono-pitch roof giving enough room to get both tractor and trailer under cover, tools and a space to keep FHT papers and books together in one place. The present shed is falling to bits and trustees now feel that it is more appropriate if tools and storage space are separated from those shared for personal use. The most likely location would be near the forest edge by the present entrance to Wilkies Wood from north Pineridge. Henry would certainly be open to sharing his skill and coordinating this venture if we were to go ahead.
This was a fact-finding venture and if this were to happen construction would not start until sometime next year as concrete plans, consultation, planning approval and funding would all need to be put in place first. If you would be inspired to work with others on this project please do not hesitate to get in touch with Kajedo the FHT land manager at [email protected]
Have a look at some more impressions of the visit.
Walks and Talks: A couple of knowledgeable members of the Trust have offered to share some of their expertise to enhance a greater in depth understanding of different aspects of the Hinterland and what makes it special. Micheal Sharp, a trained archaeologist, has spent the last ten years looking at and documenting late Bronze Age and earlier sites and evidence on the land and would be willing to give a walk and talk on his present unpublished findings and understanding. Professional naturalist Dan Puplett would also like to help open eyes by offering insight into the secret lives of animals and birds living there by offering a tracking workshop. We are looking to put on these events in late August or early September. Further detailed information will follow but for now we would like to know from you if there is interest out there and if so when the best days and times might be? To register your interest and availability please contacting Kim Emmerson at [email protected]
Help Sought: John Willoner, our present treasurer, will be taking a six-month sabbatical as of the end of September when he and Sylvia will be starting their travels around the world. John will continue as a Trustee but Jacqueline Buckingham will be taking on the treasurer role. She has asked if there might be a member who would be willing to help share what needs to be done by taking on the book keeping? There are not a great number of entries to be made a month and no experience would be necessary as training of the electronic accounting system used (Xero) would be given. This would be a great help and spread the load in running the organisation. If you might be willing to take this on please contact Jacqueline Buckingham at [email protected]
Public Consultation Update: To bring you up to date on the report that has been produced by Fiona Chalmers and Associates following this springs Heritage Lottery Fund financed Hinterland Public Consultation process (Findhorn Drop in Day, survey and Woodland Festival), the report has now been completed and has been presented to the various landowners to look at before it goes public. It should be distributed to stakeholders, posted on the Findhorn Hinterland Trust website and sent to the press early in August. I think that many of you will find the report interesting reading and it will certainly be a great help in putting together the next five-year management document for the land. Thank you to all who contributed.
Come Join Us! A reminder that there are monthly sessions on the land the last Saturday of each month between 9.30am and 12noon, weekly sessions in the Edible Woodland Garden on Thursdays from 9.30am and noon and sessions with the bees most weeks timing for which depends on the weather. We would love to see you and welcome your involvement. Also note that it is possible to use the Woodland Shelter and Fire Pit areas but prior arrangement is necessary. Contact Kajedo our land manager if you need any further information about any of these opportunities at [email protected]
Work parties are a great way to learn more about the Findhorn Hinterland while caring for it. By participating in a work party you will deepen your knowledge of local ecology and pickup some land stewardship skill.
Join us every month, 2pm and 4pm on the last Saturday of the month. We meet at the Hinterland Information Point in Wilkies Wood – that’s the blue dot marked “I” on the Hinterland map.
Tools and gloves are provided, if you have your own bring them along.
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
The Findhorn Hinterland Trust (FHT) is a charity (SC045806) set up as a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) in July 2015 and as such is regulated by OSCR (Office of Scottish Charities Register). (more...)
FHT Bees 2016 – Photo Gallery
2016 was a difficult year weatherwise for FHT bees but there was a little surplus honey, a few people joined John and Jonathan on regular inspections and as always fun was had and much was learnt!